Why is it, on a general basis, that nachos are cheaper than other chips in the grocery aisle? I'm guessing it may be due to lack of exclusivity that something like a Dorito has. But when it comes to rippled potato chips, there is no exclusivity there either. Yet, simple potato chips are often priced significantly higher than tortilla based nacho chips. I feel like there must be another element of why.

Also, why don't we see more individual packs of tortilla based chips? Almost never in variety boxes and almost never in vending machines.

Without looking into anything and only remembering something I've heard once...isn't corn heavily subsidized in the States? Hence high fructose corn syrup in everything? Wouldn't that mean that corn tortilla chips would be cheaper to produce with those subsidies than the potato based ones?

Foos is right, corn is heavily subsidized and there's a lot of it. I don't think tortilla chips are considered snacking chips as much as potato chips are. Near me there are local tortilla chip manufacturers that are much cheaper than national brands, as well.

We always have tortilla chips in the house. In fact our chips are a lighter corn chip made in St. Anne, Manitoba. We have nachos at least once a month and my mom likes to snack on these more than regular chips as they are lighter. Because they are Canadian made we pay probably double what a normal bag of chips costs. 

Might look into corn because these normal chips are getting to insane prices.

Feb 26, 2024 13:37:40 GMT Foos said:

Without looking into anything and only remembering something I've heard once...isn't corn heavily subsidized in the States? Hence high fructose corn syrup in everything? Wouldn't that mean that corn tortilla chips would be cheaper to produce with those subsidies than the potato based ones?

This is my understanding also.
Years ago I watched the 'Food Inc" documentary and they were talking about corn subsidies and how it makes corn syrup cheaper than sugar so food manufacturers use it instead of sugar even though it is waaaay worse for you.

Corn syrup, simple sugars and seed oils, will probably be put in the same category as smoking some day soon.


As for Tacos, I enjoy... But hold the beans, never understood the US/Mexican obsession with beans, gross texture and no flavour unless you add it.

I love that I can asked what some may consider a silly question and get a serious answer.

So, why no single serve bags?

Feb 26, 2024 23:54:47 GMT theend said:

So, why no single serve bags?

Tortilla chips need salsa. A small pack of chips plus salsa could be nice.

The other reason is they are stupidly easy to make at home from other parts. Fry or bake tortillas and you get homemade chips. So up the price too high, and people will just take the extra step of homemaking them.

Feb 26, 2024 23:16:42 GMT iNCY said:

Feb 26, 2024 13:37:40 GMT Foos said:

Without looking into anything and only remembering something I've heard once...isn't corn heavily subsidized in the States? Hence high fructose corn syrup in everything? Wouldn't that mean that corn tortilla chips would be cheaper to produce with those subsidies than the potato based ones?

This is my understanding also.
Years ago I watched the 'Food Inc" documentary and they were talking about corn subsidies and how it makes corn syrup cheaper than sugar so food manufacturers use it instead of sugar even though it is waaaay worse for you.

Corn syrup, simple sugars and seed oils, will probably be put in the same category as smoking some day soon.


As for Tacos, I enjoy... But hold the beans, never understood the US/Mexican obsession with beans, gross texture and no flavour unless you add it.

Corn syrup was originally so cheap as in the 70's the soviet were buying a ton of it, then conflict settled down and they no longer needed it so the US was packed with corn no one wanted.  We had to subsidize the industry so it would not collapse and people realized you could make fructose and start a campaign that it was better than sucrose to start moving the backlog of product.  For companies, corn sugar was a fraction of the cost of sugar so they made out like bandits with the swap.  The sugar market dropped like 85% as a result.  

King Corn is a fantastic movie on the corn industry in the US.  New filmmakers decide to grow an acre of corn, and as time went on started to look into the history and economics of the modern corn industry with a focus on how it is pushing out the salt of the earth family based corn farmers.  Been a while, but I also seem to remember this being a pretty level headed take as it was one of those average joe docs in the mid 2000's mostly aimed at people in the heartland and not city liberals.  


Fight now likely the reason corn is so cheap is again we ramped up production for bioethanol which does not seem to have actually caught on.  Skipping over biodiesel for cars to straight electric means we likely have a ton of production going nowhere that was meant for biodiesel too.  We will still use it as long as it is dirt cheap from overproduction, but one the cost rises, there is little economic reason to use it over gas.  It is renewable but overall some believe worse for the environment than natural gas.  Problem really seems corn is not the best option to make biofuel with, sugarcane is.

More often than I should I convince myself that Nachos, covered in an excessive amount of sauce and an even more excessive amount of cheese is a real meal.

Can be a healthy meal. I done then with uncut fried tortillas, topped with a bit of chorizo, fresh pico and cheese then baked slightly.

Feb 27, 2024 1:35:05 GMT NATH45 said:

More often than I should I convince myself that Nachos, covered in an excessive amount of sauce and an even more excessive amount of cheese is a real meal.

You can never have too much nachos

Feb 27, 2024 1:35:05 GMT NATH45 said:

More often than I should I convince myself that Nachos, covered in an excessive amount of sauce and an even more excessive amount of cheese is a real meal.

We have it as supper at least monthly. By adding a protein and veggies, it's just one step away from a hearty salad, no?

This thread inspired me to make them last night. Picking a 10/10 avocado is one of life's great joys.

I see no reason it can't be a meal. Nachos is just a taco you dropped on the floor.

Feb 27, 2024 21:44:29 GMT @ness said:

I see no reason it can't be a meal. Nachos is just a taco you dropped on the floor.

I love it because having chips and dips for dinner is unacceptable, but nacho's is multicultural, grown up and acceptable.

Feb 27, 2024 21:38:43 GMT @admin said:

This thread inspired me to make them last night. Picking a 10/10 avocado is one of life's great joys.

I buy my avocados frozen and halved

Feb 28, 2024 0:26:54 GMT iNCY said:

Feb 27, 2024 21:44:29 GMT @ness said:

I see no reason it can't be a meal. Nachos is just a taco you dropped on the floor.

I love it because having chips and dips for dinner is unacceptable, but nacho's is multicultural, grown up and acceptable.

A lot better too, because meat, beans and vegs are healthier than whatever is in hotdogs.  Just the liquid cheese and sour cream that is not really that good.